Fleet
Fleets are the core of the STO gaming community. Individually, they exert influence over gameplay and economics while together, they further allow the game to thrive. To get acquainted with fleets, let me first provide an overview of the several different kinds of fleets you can find on Star Trek Online: 1- Majority of fleets are bank fleets, created by an individual to allow greater storage for their character. I call these Utility Fleets. Utility fleets are mostly created by solo players who don't usually care for company in-game in the first place. They comprise a large but mostly invisible percentage of players, as they keep to themselves for the most part and have settings turned to private. 2- The second largest class belongs to Role Play or RP fleets. These are what players hear most of: community-centered groups whose real goals may vary from gathering players of a single nation or species together to becoming a mega fleet. Many of them use the cover of Role Play and the casual fleet atmosphere approach to attract players not interested in the hardcore approach of other fleet types. RP can range from historical time travel to erotic fantasies, for players who look forward to hooking up with an e-date. Because the RPers friendly, sociable approach attracts members, many fleets use this as an advertising gimmick, and players who join one sometimes end up disappointed because though the fleet may have a few members, it may have little of actual use to the player in terms of active expert help or equipment. Due to that and lack of available players for all fleets, many end up abandoned in middle tier as their founders/leaders get dismayed, annoyed, or just flat broke. 3- Next we have fleets established for fleet equipment, by people who don't want to pay other fleets to get it. These Fleets require large amounts of contributions, because some of the best equipment in-game is found at the highest tier, T5; and to get there requires many members contributing a massive amount of resources. Goal-oriented, serious builders, they look down on anyone not contributing and usually kick players buying their stuff without giving. Ultimately, these fleets end up becoming the richest in game, as they ultimately charge players for their equipment. For that reason they are most at risk for sabotage and and falling prey to fleet thieves. Though they may start with good intentions, ill experiences along the way can lead them to be snobbish and engage in cheating players or hoarding. Having little interest in any player not in their fleet, many of these develop bad reputations and also wind stuck/abandoned mid-tier. 4- Teaming Fleets. These fleets focus on gathering a team for missions, whether it be for PvP or PvE, or any other type of game mission. These fleets are founded to specialize, e.g. effectively accomplish specific types of game activity. Though many of these teams do accomplish that objective, the resulting power tends to leave them looking down on lesser specialized players or those who aren't as trained or have as much experience as they. New players generally avoid Teaming fleets since they tend to troll and demean those of lesser ability. 5- Lastly we have Backup or Extension fleets. Though some fleets, like Starfleet Dental, maintain a backup fleet for emergencies, most of these are founded to expand a single guild and allow for more members than the current game limit of 500. By creating more fleets and using a Private Fleet Channel (PFC), a single fleet can in effect expand their membership limitlessly. This is usually done by fleets who have reached all their Tiers, feel the need to continue building as a community activity, to expand their influence, or to compete with other mega-fleets. I like to call these multi-fleet guilds Empire Fleets. Many players join T-5 fleets because they are active, have fully stocked fleet provisions, are well established, and usually have a well known reputation. The downside for newcomers to a T-5, is they are already set in their regulations and methods, and along with having a group of favorites it usually gives perks to, it can be very difficult for any player to rise in the ranks upon reaching top tier state. Opportunities for advancement open once a fleet creates an extension, allowing for continued growth. The use of extension fleets is a topic of controversy among the STO community, with some arguing that without expansion, a fleet would not be as progressive; while others maintain duplicate fleets lessen the availability of players for lesser tier fleets in need of support.